5 ms·

> you're not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week Huh, I guess I dreamed the first start-up I worked for (a couple of decades ago

> you're not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week Huh, I guess I dreamed the first start-up I worked for (a couple of decades ago) where indeed I only came in one day a week. Yes of course you "work like hell". We had a nasty leak bug and I set things up so that day or night if the leak was detected my stereo would go maximum volume and play "Straight Outta Compton". How does commuting count as "working like hell" ? If I'm sat in a car (and once a week I often was) then I'm not working am I? I am useless for several hours each day we do that. Maybe sometimes the CTO (who is in the car, he's driving, he worked from home too) is discussing relevant technology, you know design of our secret sauce schema-less database engine, IP stuff - but then it's also possible we're discussing the album that's playing, or a video game we both enjoyed, or a novel we're both reading.

panarky 2y ago
People who sit in their cars an hour every morning, stressed by traffic and pollution before they even set foot in the office, who then attend back-to-back meaningless meetings and email and slack, and then get back in the goddamn car again for another hour if they're lucky, think everyone who doesn't perform this unhealthy and destructive ritual is a slacker.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- jh00ker 2y ago
  This reminds me of the Dave Barry quote: Meetings are an addictive, highly self-indulgent activity that corporations and other large organizations habitually engage in only because they cannot actually masturbate.
  - milofeynman 2y ago
    That reminds me of https://www.npr.org/2023/02/15/1156804295/shopify-delete-meetings-zoom-virtual-productivity https://www.npr.org/2023/02/15/1156804295/shopify-delete-mee...
- ryandrake 2y ago
  One thing I noticed after switching to WFH is that I am no longer dealing with that 15-30 minute "mental haze" that happens right after I finish my 2 hour car commute: That decompression period where my brain is fatigued from being on high alert, white knuckling it down I-580, then I-680, then I-880, watching for hazards, accidents, or just slogging through bumper-to-bumper traffic. I'd walk into the office but my brain was just too fatigued to work without a little time spent just walking around like a normal person.
  - spacemadness 2y ago
    2 hours?! That is insane. I don’t understand why people put up with that.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
inferiorhuman 2y ago
If I'm sat in a car There are other ways to commute. Commuting via train gave me a chance to go for a walk through parts of the city I'd otherwise not spend a lot of time in. Being stuck in suburban hell currently, working 100% from home is a nightmare scenario for me. Asshole neighbors. Constant noise (far worse than e.g. Oakland). Shit infrastructure (electric, telecom, whatever). And, in my experience, collaboration almost always suffers. One coworker used to work 100% from his man cave but also refused to invest in getting decent WiFi coverage down there. then it's also possible we're discussing the album that's playing, or a video game we both enjoyed, or a novel we're both reading. So? Even though HN has a hard on for eliminating human interaction, socialization is important. That said, Schmidt is wrong to pin Google's failures on remote work. Pichai is a fucking moron and Google's toxic culture is destroying both their ability to put out competitive products and to keep anything around long enough to get meaningful market share.
- goshx 2y ago
  > There are other ways to commute. There are better places to live. See what I did there? Not everyone has better options to commute.
  - esalman 2y ago
    Better places might be more expensive.
    - dsq 2y ago
      True, but doesn't WFH solve that? There must be somewhere that's both good and cheap once you go far enough.
  - inferiorhuman 2y ago
    There are better places to live. So? Going into the office makes a clear delineation between my personal and professional life. Working from home means I never get around to doing the things I need to do at home. Working from an office means I leave all (well, most) of that shit at the office. IOW, don't shit where you eat.

panarky 2y ago

People who sit in their cars an hour every morning, stressed by traffic and pollution before they even set foot in the office, who then attend back-to-back meaningless meetings and email and slack, and then get back in the goddamn car again for another hour if they're lucky, think everyone who doesn't perform this unhealthy and destructive ritual is a slacker.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
jh00ker 2y ago
This reminds me of the Dave Barry quote: Meetings are an addictive, highly self-indulgent activity that corporations and other large organizations habitually engage in only because they cannot actually masturbate.
- milofeynman 2y ago
  That reminds me of https://www.npr.org/2023/02/15/1156804295/shopify-delete-meetings-zoom-virtual-productivity https://www.npr.org/2023/02/15/1156804295/shopify-delete-mee...
ryandrake 2y ago
One thing I noticed after switching to WFH is that I am no longer dealing with that 15-30 minute "mental haze" that happens right after I finish my 2 hour car commute: That decompression period where my brain is fatigued from being on high alert, white knuckling it down I-580, then I-680, then I-880, watching for hazards, accidents, or just slogging through bumper-to-bumper traffic. I'd walk into the office but my brain was just too fatigued to work without a little time spent just walking around like a normal person.
- spacemadness 2y ago
  2 hours?! That is insane. I don’t understand why people put up with that.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

inferiorhuman 2y ago

If I'm sat in a car There are other ways to commute. Commuting via train gave me a chance to go for a walk through parts of the city I'd otherwise not spend a lot of time in. Being stuck in suburban hell currently, working 100% from home is a nightmare scenario for me. Asshole neighbors. Constant noise (far worse than e.g. Oakland). Shit infrastructure (electric, telecom, whatever). And, in my experience, collaboration almost always suffers. One coworker used to work 100% from his man cave but also refused to invest in getting decent WiFi coverage down there. then it's also possible we're discussing the album that's playing, or a video game we both enjoyed, or a novel we're both reading. So? Even though HN has a hard on for eliminating human interaction, socialization is important. That said, Schmidt is wrong to pin Google's failures on remote work. Pichai is a fucking moron and Google's toxic culture is destroying both their ability to put out competitive products and to keep anything around long enough to get meaningful market share.

goshx 2y ago
> There are other ways to commute. There are better places to live. See what I did there? Not everyone has better options to commute.
- esalman 2y ago
  Better places might be more expensive.
  - dsq 2y ago
    True, but doesn't WFH solve that? There must be somewhere that's both good and cheap once you go far enough.
- inferiorhuman 2y ago
  There are better places to live. So? Going into the office makes a clear delineation between my personal and professional life. Working from home means I never get around to doing the things I need to do at home. Working from an office means I leave all (well, most) of that shit at the office. IOW, don't shit where you eat.